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A comment on For Stanford Class of '94, a Gender Gap More Powerful Than the Internet. Parent comment

Re:For Stanford Class of '94, a Gender Gap More Powerful Tha... by foobarqux on Tuesday December 23, 2014 @04:03PM (#8790210)
Unless you include genetic pre-disposition as meritous athletics is probably one of the most anti-meritocratic fields.
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Re:For Stanford Class of '94, a Gender Gap More Powerful Tha... by rgoberstein on Tuesday December 23, 2014 @04:23PM (#8790309)
Of course physical genetics give many athletes an advantage, but any athlete will tell you that training - both mental and physical - are the only things that will make an athlete or team win and can frequently make up for predisposed characteristics that may be disadvantageous (shorter stature, smaller frame, etc). As far as meritocratic environments go, sports is certainly among the top.
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Re:For Stanford Class of '94, a Gender Gap More Powerful Tha... by foobarqux on Tuesday December 23, 2014 @05:25PM (#8790565)
"Natural advantage" and "merit" are essentially antonyms.
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Re:For Stanford Class of '94, a Gender Gap More Powerful Tha... by SamReidHughes on Wednesday December 24, 2014 @03:58PM (#8794511)
Maybe if you're some silly person that believes in free will it is.
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Re:For Stanford Class of '94, a Gender Gap More Powerful Tha... by sheensleeves on Tuesday December 23, 2014 @04:19PM (#8790290)
A claim from a blogger on these issues: performance enhancing drugs in athletics widen the gap between the genetically gifted and the less so. Seems reasonable, but not intuitive.
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